Tennis elbow

Tennis elbow is an inflammatory disease of the muscle attachments and tendons in the elbow area, manifested by a piercing pain on the outside of the elbow. It is a relatively common overload of the forearm muscles, which, despite its name, is more common in office workers or cleaning women than in avid athletes. If we delve deeper into this issue, we will find that this disease is associated with long-term repetitive manual activity or constant strain on the muscles that turn the hand palm up and extend the forearm and fingers.

Symptoms of tennis elbow

The initial symptom is usually pain when touched on the outside of the elbow joint. This pain increases when gripping and carrying loads and, in more advanced stages, when lifting a cup. Objects may also fall out of the hand and muscle strength may be lost. The pain may also radiate into the fingers, the entire arm or shoulder. The pain usually subsides at rest, but returns with exertion.

Acute vs. chronic form of tennis elbow

Tennis elbow is divided into acute and chronic forms. The acute form occurs after a single strenuous activity and the strained muscles are in a momentary higher tension and are only overloaded, but no structural changes are present yet. The problems usually last for a short time and may not recur in the future. While the chronic form develops over a longer period of time due to long-term overloading of the elbow joint and is usually referred to as such when the problems last longer than 6 weeks. And this can also lead to structural changes in the muscle, tendon or bone attachment.

Causes of tennis elbow

The most common causes of the disease are undoubtedly external causes - overloading of the muscles that attach to the elbow, whether caused by regular or one-time activity. The result is inflammation of the tendons that attach the muscle to the bone. Treatment is quite lengthy and requires patience and discipline.

Prevention of tennis elbow

You don't have to worry about sports or work, it is important to stretch the muscles correctly

The basis of prevention is not to overload the elbow joint unilaterally. During any sports or work activity that puts strain on the elbow joint, breaks and appropriate thorough stretching are important, both before and after the activity. In the case of initial, often subtle problems, it is important not to underestimate the situation, limit physical activities that put strain on the limb and leave it alone for a few days.

Examples of stretching exercises

When working on a computer, do not forget the following aspects:

• Proper adjustment of the chair with armrests
• Suitable adjustment of the table height
• Properly positioned keyboard and monitor
• Try to use all the ergonomic aids available on the market today
• Don't be afraid to consult experts about your workplace

DON'T BE AFRAID TO CONSULT EXPERTS ABOUT YOUR WORKPLACE.

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